We've just watched the whole series.
DH got through the first episode and didn't watch to watch more because he didn't like the contestants and found the tone unenjoyable.
It's really interesting to see how the Americans are culturally different - I don't think it's purely about the casting of the show. It's something more.
However despite saying he didn't want to watch, I was watching episode 5, DH got sucked back in. And wanted to watch all the way to the end.
There's definitely a pattern in how certain traitors act and how certain faithful act. I can say 'ooo that's just like wilf' or 'ooo there's Hannah' and 'ooo theirs Amanda' and how/where traitors get busted is reminiscent to the UK version.
Which does make me wonder how the next UK series will pan out. There's definitely a bunch of things that the producers have to think about!
How I felt about each contestant changed throughout the series and it's dead interesting how the main clique plays out. There was two social groups in the UK series which is one of the bigger differences in the series for me.
By the end I loved. It's not a patch on the UK series - Claudia is the absolute value for me. Alan would be good but once you've seen Claudia there's no competition. However it's a really good watch in its own right and still has that power to suck you in and think 'i really don't quite know how this is going to play out' although you get a fair idea.
I think the Americans think they are smarter and clever than the British contestants. I think that's not necessarily true... It's also dead interesting which tasks players bond on - it's different. It shows that the order that the tasks they have, matters.
One spoiler: why did they not make Americans round up sheep? A real missed opportunity there!!!
I really hope that the casting for uk season 2 is as good as season 1. Professional reality TV stars are very different to ordinary people.